Ruaidrf Ua Conchobair, son of Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair (d. 1156) and his third wife Caillech De, daughter of Ua hEidin, was the last undisputed high king of Ireland. Ruaidrf was born about 1116, he and his sister Mor being the only fruit of their parents’ brief union. During the late 1110s, Tairrdelbach married Mor (d. 1122), daughter of Domnall Mac Lochlainn (d. 1121), allowing Caillech De to later successively marry Tairrdelbach Ua Briain (d. 1167) and Murchad Ua Briain. From the events of Ruaidrf’s early life it would appear that his father did not favor him. During 1136, Tairrdelbach’s fortunes were at an all-time low, encouraging the ambitions of Ruaidrf and some of his brothers. Although under the protection of Bishop Muiredach Ua Dubthaig (d. 1150) and Ua Domnallain, Tairrdelbach arrested Ruaidrf with Uada Ua Concheanainn (d. 1168), ordering his intended heir Conchobar Ua Conchobair (sl. 1144) to blind another son, Aed Ua Conchobair. How long Ruaidrf spent in confinement is uncertain, but he again incurred his father’s wrath in 1143. Then Tairrdelbach ordered Conchobar with Tigernan Ua Ruairc of Breifne (sl. 1172) to arrest Ruaidrf, breaking sureties given by Archbishop Ua Dubthaig, Tadg Ua Briain (d. 1154), and Murchad Ua Ferghail. Ruaidrf’s arrest led the clergy and the nobility to fast at Rathbrendan for his release and, on hearing their petitions, Tairrdelbach outwardly relented, promising to release Ruaidrf in April 1144. Tairrdelbach had little intention of releasing Ruaidrf, but the killing of Conchobar in Mide (Meath) during 1144 forced a rethink. Under pressure from Archbishop Gilla mac Liac (Gelasius) of Armagh (d. 1173) with the clergy and nobility of Connacht, the high king finally released Ruaidrf along with Domnall Ua Flaithbertaig and Cathal Ua Conchobair.
Tairrdelbach now favored another son Domnall Midech Ua Conchobair (d. 1176) but, with typical determination, Ruaidrf slowly rose in his father’s estimation, punishing Ua Ruairc with a raid into Dartry during 1146. During 1146 and 1150, he improved his status, capturing and later killing Domnall Ua Conchobair, Tairrdelbach’s nephew and enemy. In 1147, Domnall Midech was defeated in Mide, and his fall was completed by his arrest in 1151, allowing Ruaidri to stake his claim as his father’s heir. This role gave him new confidence, attacking Thomond successfully during 1151. After Tairrdelbach’s great victory over the army of Tairrdelbach Ua Briain (d. 1167) at Moin Mor, Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn (sl. 1166) compelled the high king to give hostages. Mac Lochlainn’s intervention did not prevent Ruaidri from pursuing his hard line against Thomond, burning Croome in Limerick. And during 1153 Tairrdelbach expelled Ua Briain into the north, causing Mac Lochlainn to come south. In Mide, Tairrdelbach, Ruaidri, Diarmait Mac Murchada (d. 1171), and Tadg Ua Briain attempted to halt Mac Lochlainn. But Tairrdelbach retreated to Connacht after his allies had suffered heavy losses, leaving Ruaidri exposed. At Fardrum in west Mide, Mac Lochlainn pounced, routing Ruaidri and his west-Connacht troops. However, Tairrdelbach and Ruaidri were determined not to allow Mac Lochlainn to get the better of them, defeating him at sea during 1154. But Mac Lochlainn proved stronger on land, plundering east Connacht and Breifne that year. Upon the death of Maelsechlainn Ua Maelsechlainn of Mide in 1155, Mac Lochlainn came south again. Tairrdelbach and Ruaidri vehemently resisted the enforcement of Muirchertach’s settlement of Mide, building a bridge at Athlone and sacking Cullentragh castle.
Ruaidri finally became king of Connacht upon the high king’s death in May 1156, inheriting the struggle with Mac Lochlainn. He quickly stamped his authority on his familial rivals, arresting three brothers, blinding one. On learning of Tairrdelbach’s death and Ruaidri’s accession, Mac Lochlainn took hostages from Mac Murchada before plundering Osraige (Ossory). Ruaidri competed with Mac Lochlainn for control of Leinster and the midlands, transforming the whole region into an arena where their respective clients struggled for its kingships. That winter, Ruaidri strengthened Connacht’s midland frontier, positioning a fleet on the Shannon in anticipation of Mac Lochlainn’s next move. In 1157, Mac Lochlainn deposed Donnchad Ua Maelsechlainn of Mide (sl. 1160), giving the kingship of Mide to Diarmait Ua Maelsechlainn (sl. 1169) before taking hostages of Mac Murchada. He then attacked Ruaidri’s client kings in Ui Failge and Loigis (partly reflected in the modern counties Offaly and Laois) and Osraige, forcing them to flee to Connacht before subduing Munster and Ostman Limerick. Ruaidri had to hit back or lose face. Taking advantage of Mac Lochlainn’s absence in Munster, Ruaidri attacked the north, burning Incheny near Strabane and plundered parts of Derry. As Mac Lochlainn hurried home, Ruaidri then doubled back and appeared in Munster to overturn the high king’s settlement of Munster, dividing it between Tairrdelbach Ua Briain and Diarmait Mac Carthaig (sl. 1185).
During 1158 Ruaidri proved even more crafty. With Mac Lochlainn putting down a rebellion in Tir Conaill (Co. Donegal), Ruaidri invaded Leinster and reversed the high king’s settlement of Loigis and Osraige, carrying Macraith Ua Morda of Loigis in chains to Connacht. As king of Connacht, he proved equally ruthless, blinding the two sons of the rebel Murchad Ua Ceallaig. Avoiding Mac Lochlainn on land, Ruaidri used Connacht’s maritime superiority to hit the high king and his clients, plundering Inishowen before ransacking Tethbae in Mide. But the greatest weapon in Ruaidri’s arsenal was political skill. As an intriguer, he was unequalled, winning over Donnchad Ua Maelsechlainn in 1158. In 1159, he dumped Ua Maelsechlainn to take advantage of Ua Ruairc’s discontent at Mac Lochlainn’s deposition of Diarmait Ua Maelsechlainn (sl. 1169) as king of Mide. Ruaidri now decided to make his move on Mac Lochlainn, attacking Mide and capturing the Ua Maelsechlainn caput on Lough Sewdy before invading Airgialla, home of Donnchad Ua Cearbaill (sl. 1167), Mac Lochlainn’s ally. Close to Ardee, Mac Lochlainn annihilated the Connacht army and its allies and pursued Ruaidri to the Shannon and wasted Breifne. Later Mac Lochlainn invaded Connacht and humiliated Ruaidri, sacking his capital at Dunmore and several other forts. Ruaidri stubbornly refused to submit and left the high king no alternative but to withdraw. While a chastened Ruaidri licked his wounds, he watched Mac Lochlainn win back Ua Ruairc, strengthen Donnchad Ua Maelsechlainn’s kingship of Mide, confirm Leinster to Mac Murchada, and expel Faelan Mac Faelain (d. 1203) from Leinster to Connacht.
In 1160, Ruaidri, displaying considerable tenacity, exploited Mac Lochlainn’s difficulties in putting down another northern rebellion. And the killing of Donnchad Ua Maelsechlainn allowed him to sweep into Mide, take its hostages, and make Diarmait Ua Maelsechlainn king. At Assaroe near Ballyshannon, Mac Lochlainn met him, but they failed to agree to a peace. Mac Lochlainn then marched into Mide to take its hostages and those of Breifne, prompting Ruaidri to come to the aid of Diarmait Ua Maelsechlainn and Ua Ruairc. Mac Lochlainn backed off and returned home, allowing Ruaidri to erode his hold on Munster, placing a fleet on the Shannon to take hostages of Tairrdelbach Ua Briain. Ruaidri continued to erode the high king’s authority in 1161. He and Ua Ruairc went into Mide and Leinster and took the hostages of
Uf Faelain and Uf Failge, leaving Faelan Mac Faelain and Muirchertach Ua Conchobair Failge (sl. 1166) there as kings. This forced Mac Lochlainn to reaffirm his high kingship, plundering Breifne and west Mide and taking the submissions of the Dublin Ostmen and Mac Murchada. Faced by Mac Lochlainn’s might, Ruaidrf pragmatically negotiated with Mac Lochlainn on the plain of Tethbae. Although Ruaidrf gave Mac Lochlainn four hostages for Uf Briuin, Conmaicne, Munster, and Mide, the Clonmacnoise annals say he gave twelve. It is clear, though, that his submission was far from unconditional given that the high king did not depose Connacht’s allies in Uf Faelain and Uf Failge. In return, Ruaidrf received Connacht and was granted west Mide by Mac Lochlainn, while east Mide was confirmed to Diarmait Ua Maelsechlainn. At this time, Mac Lochlainn was king of Ireland cen fressabra ("without opposition"), presiding over a convention of the laity and the clergy of Ireland at Dervor in Mide. While Ruaidrf presumably attended, he was biding his time. Afterwards he returned to Connacht and executed Domnall Ua Laeghachain despite the sureties of the bishop of Clonmacnoise.
A sign of Ruaidrf’s acknowledgment of Mac Lochlainn’s superiority was the presence of Connacht troops at the high king’s siege of Dublin during 1162. He also drew Diarmait Ua Maelsechlainn closer to him, returning west Mide to him for five score ounces of gold in 1162. During 1163, he sent a timely message to Mac Lochlainn, allowing his heir Conchobar Maenmaige Ua Conchobair (sl. 1189) to capture the high king’s son in Connacht before sending him home. By 1164, Ruaidrf was up to his old tricks, resuming his favorite ploy of exploiting Mac Lochlainn’s difficulties in the north. In Thomond, Ruaidrf’s half-brother Muirchertach Ua Briain (sl. 1168) seized the kingship from his father Tairrdelbach Ua Briain. Ruaidrf and Muirchertach tried to expel Tairrdelbach, but failed. Undeterred, Ruaidrf campaigned with Ua Ruairc to the borders of Dublin before crowning the year by transferring his capital from Dunmore to his new fortress of Tuam. With Mac Lochlainn distracted by troubles in the north, Ruaidrf consolidated his grip on the midlands and parts of Leinster. In 1165 he punished the Leinster subkingdom of Cairpre (Carbury) for its participation in the killing of Sitriuc Ua Ruairc. That year he restored Diarmait Ua Maelsechlainn to the kingship of west Mide, subdued the latter’s enemies in the Mide subkingdoms of Brega and Saithne, campaigned into Leinster, and asserted his superiority over Diarmait Mac Carthaig.
Ruaidrf’s great moment came in 1166 when Mac Lochlainn’s high kingship unwound amid a serious rebellion in the north. Around April 24, Mac Lochlainn blinded Eochaid Mac Duinnsleibe of Ulaid, prompting the outraged Donnchad Ua Cearbaill of Airgialla (sl.1167) (Eochaid’s foster-father) to repair to Connacht to Ruaidrf. Realizing his time had come, Ruaidrf marched on Dublin and was acknowledged as high king. Deep inside Mac Lochlainn’s sphere at Drogheda, Ruaidrf took Ua Cearbaill’s submission, but instead of attacking Mac Lochlainn, he first drummed up support against Mac Murchada in Uf Faelain and Uf Failge. In May, Ruaidrf invaded Mac Murchada’s home kingdom of Uf Chennselaig, defeating him at Fid Dorcha. With Mac Murchada subdued, Ruaidrf marched to Tfr Conaill to take the submissions of its lords, ensuring they did not go to Mac Lochlainn’s aid. Thereafter, the collapse of Mac Lochlainn in the north was rapid; Ruaidrf’s allies killed him in the Fews of Armagh. He began a circuit of Ireland in Tfr nEogain (Tyrone), dividing it between Niall Mac Lochlainn (sl. 1176) and Aed Ua Neill (sl. 1177) and took the submission of the king of Ulaid (east Ulster). He then entered Leinster, took the submissions of the king of Osraige before traveling to Munster to take the allegiance of its kings. In Ruaidrf’s absence, Mac Murchada attempted to reassert himself, leading to the August invasion of Uf Chennselaig by Ua Ruairc, Diarmait Ua Maelsechlainn, the Leinster princes, and the Dublin Ostmen. Mac Murchada fled in search of Henry II, resulting in the division of Uf Chennselaig between the Mac Gilla Patraic dynasty of Osraige and Murchad Mac Murchada (sl. 1172). Before the close of the year, Ruaidrf at Athlone rewarded all his clients who had played decisive roles in his capture of the high kingship.
As high king, he was determined to rule the disparate kingdoms of Ireland, taking steps towards the achievement of effective royal government by presiding over an almost national assembly at Athboy in Mide during 1167. But he was compelled to campaign against Niall Mac Lochlainn, marching with the kings of Mide, Thomond, Desmond, and Ulaid to Armagh before catching the fleet to attack Derry. After forcing Mac Lochlainn’s submission, he redivided Tfr nEogain between him and the Uf Neill. In August, Mac Murchada returned with English troops and reconquered Uf Chennselaig. Ruaidrf reacted quickly and brought him to heel after two clashes at Kellistown. Feeling secure, Ruaidrf celebrated the Oenach Tailten ("fair of Teltown"), an act proclaiming his dominance over the island. Although the most powerful man in Ireland, Ruaidrf had difficulties in welding his kingdom together, particularly in Mide and Thomond. But he coped competently, extracting a fine of 800 cows from Diarmait Ua Maelsechlainn for killing a client. But the trouble did not end there, for angered by Ua Maelsechlainn’s payment of the fine, the Meathmen deposed him; and Ruaidrf’s troops sent to restore him were routed. In Munster Ruaidri’s power was also threatened by the killing of Muirchertach Ua Briain (his half-brother), but again he dealt easily with the crisis. He divided the province between Domnall Mor Ua Briain (d. 1194) and Mac Carthaig before levying a fine of 720 cows for Muirchertach’s killing. At Athlone he received the fealty of Mac Gilla Patraic, and such was his power that later the kings of Tir nEogain made their submission there too.
In 1169, Ruaidri’s confidence in his high kingship was plain, granting the lector of Armagh ten cows in perpetuity to lecture Irish and Scottish students in literature. Alarmingly, Mac Murchada’s second wave of English troops landed in May, and Diarmait Ua Maelsechlainn was killed by Domnall Ua Maelsechlainn (sl. 1173), who established himself as king of east Mide. Ruaidri quickly shored up his position, expelling Domnall, kept west Mide for himself, and gave the east to Ua Ruairc. But as he plugged one leak, others appeared. Mac Murchada now attacked the high-king’s clients in Osraige and West Leinster. A concerned Ruaidri summoned the men of Ireland, meeting them probably at Tara. With Murchad Ua Cearbaill of Airgialla (d.1189) and Magnus Mac Duinnsleibe of Ulaid (sl.1171), he went to Dublin to confer with its ruler before returning to Connacht. To counter Mac Murchada’s successes in Osraige, Ruaidri began a circuit through Munster, Leinster, and Osraige to reassure his allies. With an army of Irish and Ostmen, he entered Ui Chennselaig to confront Mac Murchada. Although Ruaidri proved militarily superior, he lost confidence in his ability to impose a military solution. Characteristically, he changed tactics, opting for politics. Messengers were dispatched to tempt Robert fitz Stephen (d. 1210) to desert Mac Murchada. When fitz Stephen refused, Ruaidri switched to Mac Murchada himself, offering an alliance if he would turn on the English. Mac Murchada turned him down, forcing Ruaidri to review his options and dispatch clerics to treat with the Leinster king. They found him receptive and struck a deal that confirmed Mac Murchada as king of Leinster in return for his recognition of Ruaidri’s high kingship; the English were to be sent home; Mac Murchada’s last legitimate son, Conchobar, was taken by Ruaidri as a hostage and to him was promised one of Ruaidri’s daughters. Satisfied with these arrangements, Ruaidri departed.
Matters worsened considerably in 1170. Domnall Ua Briain revolted against Ruaidri, distracting the high king’s attention from Leinster. During the summer, Ruaidri’s problems mounted when Mac Murchada attacked Osraige, Leinster, and Mide and dispatched English troops to aid Ua Briain. Ruaidri was forced to retreat from Thomond and had to content himself with wasting Ormond. On August 23, Mac Murchada took Waterford and marched on Dublin. Ruaidri hastened to the aid of the Ostmen, positioning his army at Clondalkin to block Mac Murchada. The Leinster king, however, cut through the Wicklow mountains to reach Dublin. The Ostman king, judging that Mac Murchada had bested Ruaidri, entered into negotiations with him. Aware of this treachery, Ruaidri prudently withdrew, leaving the Ostmen to be repaid in their own faithless coin when the English seized the city on September 21. Ruaidri’s withdrawal left Mac Murchada in complete control of east Leinster and exposed his clients in west Leinster and Mide to Mac Murchada’s revenge. The crisis gripping Ruaidri’s high kingship was graphically illustrated when Ua Ruairc forced him to execute Mac Murchada’s hostages for his continued fealty. Ruaidri and the Irish kings in general were so alarmed that they may have dispatched a delegation to Henry II of England seeking protection.
In spite of these terrible reverses, Ruaidri recovered in 1171, forcing Ua Briain to submit before mid-year and was boosted when Mac Murchada died in May. Ruaidri now planned a major campaign to support the Leinstermen fighting the English. With their help and fleets from the Western Isles and Man, Ruaidri besieged Dublin through August and September 1171, reducing the English to desperate straits. With success within his grasp, Ruaidri dictated a peace: the English could retain the Ostman towns of Dublin, Wexford, and Waterford, but nothing more. His confidence was such that he now divided his army. According to the Irish annals, he left a large contingent at Castleknock to contain the English at Dublin, and moved off to rendezvous with his Leinster allies, who were maintaining the blockade south of the city. He also led an expedition inland to punish those still loyal to the family of Diarmait Mac Murchada and the English, while he dispatched that cavalry of Breifne and Airgialla to burn the cornfields of the English near Dublin. The weakening of the Irish grip around Dublin was Ruaidri’s undoing. Twilight was falling as the English descended on the unprepared camp at Castleknock, slaughtering hundreds. Ruaidri’s presence at the rout is disputed. The Irish sources uniformly say that he was still away campaigning in Leinster, while the near-contemporary source known as the Song of Dermot and the Earl makes no mention of his presence during the attack. Only Giraldus Cambrensis (Gerald of Wales) has that Ruaidri was there; he claimed that Ruaidri was having a bath when the English attacked and that he escaped through the slaughter naked. Be that as it may, Ruaidri’s high kingship had suffered an irreversible shock, forcing him to withdraw from Dublin. On October 18 Henry II landed at Waterford before proceeding to Dublin, taking the submissions of Ruaidri’s allies such as Ua Briain, Mac Carthaig, Domnall Mac Gilla Patraic (d. 1185), Ua Maelsechlainn, and even Ua Ruairc. In November, Henry II sent emissaries to Ruaidrf demanding his submission. All English sources with the exception of Giraldus tell of how the high king refused, informing the emissaries that Ireland was his by right and that he owed the English king no fealty. That Henry II considered leading an expedition against Ruaidrf also indicates that the high king’s army was largely still intact.
In any event, Henry returned to England in March 1172 to deal with the rebellion of his sons. In Leinster, Ruaidrf’s allies still resisted the English, but he suffered a major blow when his father-in-law Ua Ruairc was killed. That year Ruaidrf confined himself to Connacht, presiding over a convention of laity and clergy at Tuam. In 1173, he aided the Irish fighting the English advance, allowing Conchobar Maenmaige and the men of west Connacht to join Domnall Ua Briain to sack Kilkenny. He also had the hand of Domnall Ua Ruairc, his father-in-law’s nemesis, nailed to the top of Tuam castle. During 1174, he took the field himself against the English, blocking their advance into Ormond, forcing them to send for reinforcements. He then dispatched Ua Briain and Conchobar Maenmaige to attack the reinforcements, defeating them with great loss at Thurles, forcing the English to retreat to Waterford and abandon Kilkenny to the Irish. Jubilant, Ruaidrf returned to Connacht and assembled an army largely drawn from that province, Ulster, Mide, and west Leinster. Taking advantage of the absence of Hugh de Lacy (sl. 1186), he invaded Mide, sacking its castles and penetrated as far as Dublin. But he was unable to strike the fatal blow, and Raymond le Gros forced him to retreat to Connacht, leaving his supporters in Leinster and Mide with no option but to take refuge in Connacht. As a result of Ruaidrf’s inability to press home his advantage, Ua Briain revolted in 1175. Ruaidrf duly deposed Ua Briain, raising his own half-brother, the son of Murchad Ua Briain, to the kingship of Thomond. Ua Briain, though, continued to resist, leading Ruaidrf to resort to a game of divide and rule. Before October 1, he invited the English and Domnall Mac Gilla Patraic to aid him, intending to use them to administer a decisive defeat upon his sometime enemy. At the same time, Ruaidrf dispatched a delegation, consisting of Archbishop Laurence O’Toole of Dublin, Archbishop Cadhla Ua Dubthaig of Tuam, and his chancellor Master Laurence, to negotiate a treaty with Henry II at Windsor. By its terms, Ruaidrf on October 6, 1175 acknowledged Henry II as his overlord and agreed to stay out of much of Leinster and part of east Munster, while Henry would leave the rest of the island to Ruaidrf. Around this time, Raymond le Gros held separate conferences with Ruaidrf and Ua Briain and received pledges of loyalty. Sensing Ua Briain’s weakness, Ruaidrf pounced, forcing him to give up seven hostages.
By 1177, the treaty of Windsor had become unworkable due to continuing English encroachments into Connacht. And like his father, Ruaidrf had a troubled relationship with his sons. In 1177, Ruaidrf’s son Murchad Ua Conchobair (d. 1216) guided Milo de Cogan’s invasion of Connacht. Even though they sacked Tuam, the invaders fled before Ruaidrf’s forces. As an example to others, Ruaidrf blinded the captive Murchad for his treachery. The invasion of Connacht now caused Ruaidrf to question the loyalty of his other sons, arresting the able Conchobar Maenmaige before the close of the year. Even though Conchobar Maenmaige escaped in 1178, father and son were reconciled and drove de Lacy’s forces away from Clonmacnoise that year. Indeed, Ruaidrf’s hand may even be detected in the attacks of dispossessed Leinster princes upon English forces in 1179.
While Conchobar Maenmaige put down an Ua Ceallaig rebellion in Connacht during 1180, Ruaidrf resumed his political machinations, seeking to divide his enemies. He dispatched Archbishop Lorean and a son to negotiate a new peace with Henry, while at the same time he formed an alliance with de Lacy. The alliance was sealed with the marriage of de Lacy to Ruaidrf’s daughter Rois, angering King Henry who thought de Lacy too powerful in Ireland. In allying with de Lacy, Ruaidrf hoped his son-in-law would stem the colonial flood. But in Ruaidrf’s struggle to keep Connacht afloat, the colonists were not his only challenge. Ever since the death in 1176 of Domnall Midech, lord of north Connacht, Ruaidrf’s rule over north Connacht was precarious. In 1181, Domnall Midech’s sons joined Ruaidrf’s former son-in-law Flaithbertach Ua Maeldoraid (d. 1198), king of Tfr Conaill, against Ruaidrf. The high king dispatched an army to crush their rebellion, but they wiped it out at Cairpre (the Carbury area of Co. Sligo) on May 23. If this was not bad enough, Ruaidrf’s miserable year was capped off by the death of his wife Dubchoblach, daughter of Ua Ruairc. In 1182, Ruaidrf ordered Conchobar Maenmaige to gather his army. And when they cornered the rebels in Sligo, they slaughtered them in a complete rout. With Ruaidrf now approaching 70, Conchobar Maenmaige was eager to succeed him as king of Connacht, leading to considerable tension between father and son. In 1183, the situation seemed to have been resolved when Ruaidrf renounced the world and entered the monastery of Cong in Mayo, allowing Conchobar Maenmaige to assume the Connacht kingship. After such a life, it was natural that Ruaidrf would find a life of contemplation tedious. And so in 1185, he decided to reclaim his kingship from Conchobar Maenmaige. This selfish decision was disastrous for the recovering Ua Conchobair kingdom of Connacht, heralding decades of civil war. After enlisting Domnall Ua Briain and the English, Ruaidn pillaged throughout west Connacht in 1185, burning churches and terrorizing the population. Even though Conchobar Maenmaige ravaged Thomond in revenge, the slaughter appalled him, leading him to agree to share Connacht with his father. In 1186, Conchobar Maenmaige thought better of this accommodation and exiled Ruaidn to Munster, but later recalled him and allotted him new lands. Despite this, Ruaidn refused to relinquish his dream of taking the kingship back and continued to plot against Conchobar Maenmaige. His dream became a reality after Conchobar Maenmaige was assassinated by Ruaidn’s supporters, causing the Connacht nobility to recall him. Upon his return, Ruaidn was triumphantly welcomed by the nobility and received their hostages. This was to prove his last triumph. In reality, he was too old for the rigors of Connacht politics and was deposed before the end of the year. In 1191, he tried yet again to reclaim his kingship, traveling to Ulster, Mide, and Munster to gather troops. His decline was evident as, everywhere he went, none would help him. Finally, the Connacht nobility prevailed upon him to return home, telling him that lands had been put aside for him in southwest Galway. The old man returned, but soon entered the monastery of Cong to begin his penance. Ruaidn, last of the high kings, died at Cong in 1198 and was buried with his father in the church of Clonmacnoise. Even in death, Ruaidn proved turbulent, as his remains were disinterred and placed in a stone shrine in 1207.
